Pixar Era Analysis – Toy Story 3
As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 27 of Pixar’s animated feature films and their film making eras.
The second era is the Merger Era, which ran from 2006 to 2010 and started with Cars. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Merger Era is known as the first Era after Disney purchased Pixar in early-to-mid 2006. The Merger Era is known for films that continued to tell imaginative and original stories (with the exception of Toy Story 3), showing further development of computer generated animation, and focusing on more mature and darker themes, as well as realism.
So how did Toy Story 3 measure up to the above features of the Merger Era and was it the right film to end the Era?
Continuing to tell imaginative and original stories (with the exception of Toy Story 3):
Toy Story 3 is the only sequel in this Era, hence this film is an exception, of sorts, when it comes to the Merger Era trait of continuing to tell imaginative and original stories.
I say it’s an exception of sorts as whilst it is a sequel to the previous two films that focus on toys who come to life when no humans are around, the plot of this film is original and uniquely, was foreshadowed in its predecessor film, Toy Story 2. The plot of this film revolves around Andy having grown up and moving away to college, and the fact that he hasn’t played with the toys in years. When Andy packs the toys (except Woody) up in a garbage bag to put them in the attic, his mother mistakes the bag for trash, and after saving themselves from being taken to the dump, the toys opt to put themselves in another moving box to be donated to a local day care to be played with other kids.
Once the toys get to day care, they realise that it is a dictatorship run by Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear (Lotso), Big Baby, and Ken, and they have been sent to play with toddlers who are too young to play with them properly. Meanwhile, Woody leaves but is found by Bonnie, a girl who attends the day care. Whilst at Bonnie’s house, he meets Chuckles, a toy clown, who tells him his, Lotso’s and Big Baby’s back story, as they were all once owned and loved by a girl named Daisy, who lost them all during a family trip. When Lotso discovered Daisy’s parents replaced him with an identical toy, he became embittered.
Eventually, the other toys find out that Andy wanted to put them in the attic, and Woody returns to help them escape. Just as they make it outside, Lotso tries to stop them, but Woody tells everyone Lotso’s back story, which leads to everyone turning against him. When Lotso grabs Woody and drags him into the dumpster, the toys follow and they end up almost incinerated at a local landfill, but are saved by the toy Aliens.
The film ends with Woody prompting Andy to donate the toys (including himself) to Bonnie. Andy leaves for college and the toys start a new life with Bonnie and her toys. The end credits show Ken, Barbie, and Big Baby running the day care, making it a happier place for all of the toys there.
According to the film’s IMDb page, the screenplay for the film took two-and-a-half years to write and storyboard.
Showing further development of computer generated animation:
Much like it predecessor film, Toy Story 3 is in the unique position of being a follow-up to Pixar’s debut animated feature film, Toy Story and showing how far Pixar’s animation and computer generated animation in general had come in the then-fifteen years since the release of Toy Story and the then-11 years since the release of Toy Story 2.
When Toy Story was made, water and fur were almost impossible to animate and Mrs Davis’ hair had to be tied back due to the limitations and difficulties of animating hair at the time. By the time Toy Story 3 was in production, fur was able to be animated realistically and Mrs Davis’ had her hair out, albeit short. According to the film’s IMDb page, the real animation challenge was trying to animate the trash bags as they have special properties, such as how it reflects light and the animators spent weeks trying to get it right.
Interestingly, according to the film’s IMDb page, the animators discovered that they couldn’t edit any of the old 3D models of the characters due to the advancements in technology making the digital files of the models obsolete. Because of this, everything had to be recreated from scratch.
According to the film’s IMDb page, Woody had 229 animation points of movement, and Buzz has 215 animation points of movement in his face alone.
You could also argue that the video tape sequence at the beginning of the film shows how far animation has come in the then-fifteen years since the release of Toy Story. It’s also obvious that the design and animation of the toys in this film is cleaner and crisper.
Focusing on more mature and darker themes, as well as realism:
The mature and darker themes that Toy Story 3 focused on included but was not limited to: growing up, moving on, dictatorships, abandonment, bullying, and even impending death.
The realism that is focused on in this film is Andy growing up and moving on to a new chapter in his life, which was foreshadowed in the previous films, as well as how rough toddlers can be with toys at day care.
My overall thoughts:
Full disclosure, I have seen Toy Story 3 a few times, including when it was released in cinemas.
Watching it for the purposes of this project, Toy Story 3 had similar features to its predecessors of the Merger Era, and it was a natural follow-up to the previous Toy Story films. I also believe it was the right film to end the Merger Era as it showed how much Pixar had grown over fifteen years, as well as in the then-four years since it was purchased by Disney.
The next part of the Pixar Era Analysis series to be released will focus on the Experimental Era, and the first film within that Era, Cars 2.
Fun Facts and Trivia:
- According to the film’s IMDb page, Blake Clark became the new voice of Slinky Dog, replacing the late Jim Varney who died of lung cancer in 2000. Clark and Varney had been good friends.
- There are 302 characters in this film, the most of any Pixar film.
- Ken wears 21 different outfits.
- The flamenco song that Jessie and Buzz dance to is a Spanish version of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
- The garbage truck driver seen at the beginning and the end of the film is Sid Phillips from Toy Story. Sid’s voice actor, Erik von Detten, reprised his role for this film.
- Film director, Lee Unkrich’s son, Max, drew Daisy’s name on Big Baby’s pendant, as well as Bonnie’s name on her backpack. His other children drew the pictures shown in Bonnie’s room.
- At 1 hours and 43 minutes, this is the longest Toy Story movie.
- This is the first Toy Story film that doesn’t feature a human antagonist.
- This film is set approximately 10 years after the events of Toy Story 2.
References:
Loveday Writing 